- Venue
- MIT Press
- Location
- United Kingdom
“Alternative Histories” was firstly a large scale exhibition to document New York Art spaces from 1960 to 2010 and subsequently this “part exhibition catalogue, part cultural history” was published bearing the same title, bursting with as much of that previous documentation as possible. The conception of “Alternative Histories” is credited to Exit Art co-founders Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo[i]. Exit Art has proven to be one of New York’s leading “alternative spaces”[ii], consistently responding to political, social and cultural issues whilst supporting artists who were unrecognised or exploring new territory. Befitting that Exit Art have conducted the mammoth task of telling the world this particular history.
The exhibition was presented as a great table littered with 140 cardboard boxes. Visitors could investigate as if digging into the past, each box dedicated to an alternative space[iii]. Not to be taken as a comprehensive survey but to “contribute to an ongoing process of mapping, recording and analysing the history”[iv]. In the book the individual profiles for each “alternative” include; timeline, founder/s and their story, geography, significant political and social implications, key exhibitions and projects. Alongside this, a single image illustrating the spirit of each; a photograph taken at Just Above Midtown (JAM) in 1981 of Butch Harris mid-performance “as a living “sculpture”” [v], powerful print graphics by Kenkeleba House[vi], THE THING’s basement operations room[vii], a sketched plan for the Franklin Street Arts Center[viii]. Some photographs of founders standing proudly by the main doors[ix] – paints a better picture of these alternative histories to put faces to the names of those who drove things forward.
Brian O’Doherty is credited with first coining the term “Alternative Spaces” [x]. The rationale for many artists turning to the disused, unkempt, readily available spaces in areas of SoHo and the Lower East Side, “Not the shiny New York we know now”[xi] . Artists injected their efforts into making the alternatives viable for living and working. “Let’s do it ourselves and maybe they’ll pay attention!”[xii] It also afforded a freedom of expression impossible in the established environments especially for young, unrecognised artists and those from less accepted backgrounds.
Melissa Rachleff’s informative essay[xiii] tackles the “alternative spaces” definition and surveys significant texts. In the 1960’s on the’ ‘home front’[xiv]; artists’ activist movements chiefly AWC (Art Workers Coalition) took MOMA to task over the underrepresentation of minority artists; AWC proceeded to address broader issues of “political and social concerns such as the Vietnam war, racism, sexism, and reproductive rights”. Extending far beyond evasion of museum policies, the Lower East side became an “activist central culture”[xv], incorporating health centres, workshops for Harlem Youths, practical alternatives to the orthodox museums for the Puerto Rican communities[xvi]. Alternative spaces served as multi-faceted support agencies[xvii].
Anecdotal tales make for great reading mostly within the 13 interviews[xviii] with founders, directors and key staff, led by curator Herb Tam[xix]. These divulge details of relationships, pressures and inspirations; “I threw a big food party in the loft and used the theme of edible flowers…Gordon [Matta Clark] came to the party…and said “You should start a restaurant” [xx]. Carol Goodden describes the start of FOOD, New York’s first art space / restaurant, illustrating the trajectories of everyday living and artistic idea.
Many “alternative spaces” have since closed – the inevitable irony of the downtrodden areas of New York suddenly becoming desirable since artists enlivened and cared them, city planners saw sudden potential for redevelopment. Others expired due to internal conflicts, financial strain, or as regulatory laws were more stringently imposed[xxi].
Temporary, radical spaces[xxii] could be more experimental and risky without the pressure of sustaining a location. We see a later shift in the 1980’s as some leaders found ways to work from within – or not in opposition to – established institutions. P.S.1 became affiliated with MOMA in 2000. Prolific curator Alanna Heiss states; “P.S.1 was the opposite of the alternative space…time to stop being a guerrilla warrior for art. A chance to really challenge museum activity in a space that wasn’t acting as a museum”.
It is commented that “commercial galleries figured out through the alternative space movement that installation was what they should be showing”[xxiii], Marina Abramovic’s exhibition at MOMA “could have been at artists space fifteen years ago”[xxiv]. The 1970’s saw more acquisition of NEA[xxv] funding which negated working with dealers and curators, and afforded more open ended artistic agenda.
Papo Colo writes about how we can move forward; “again we have to conceive new options”. It is not for us to look back with nostalgia for something lost or dwindling nor is this archival project to signal the end of “alternatives”, as they are now called for to be potentially “extra-institution”[xxvi]. Not necessarily protesting but demanding freedom of expression; Artists require test-beds, chance to explore new technologies and discover new “social, political, environmental and aesthetic priorities”[xxvii]. They can be supported by the larger institutions. Artists will always have the power to make change; “to confront the world. The news does not last and is not as significant or important as the arts”.[xxviii]. “Alternative histories” can be the foundation for alternative futures.
[i] P.14 The idea was conceived ten years previously to the opening of Exit Art’s doors for the “Alternative Histories” exhibition in 2010.
[ii] P.11 On Creating Alternatives and “Alternative Histories”, Mary Anne Staniszewski.
[iii] P.14 “We thought that the exhibition would include approximately thirty or forty spaces. We were surprised at the depth and wealth of information”, Jeanette Ingberman
[iv] P.11, Mary Anne Staniszewski.
[v] P.156, Photograph of Senga Nengudi and Cheryl Banks performance at Just Above Midtown (JAM)
[vi] P.163, Graphic from the invitation to the exhibition “Vice and Virtue” at Kenkeleba House
[vii] P.250, photograph of the basement at THE THING at 44 White Street in 1992
[viii] P.177, Drawn plan for the Franklin Street Arts Center building, 1977.
[ix] P.108, The Studio Museum in Harlem on opening day
[x] Essays by O’Doherty first published in Art Forum in the 1970’s
[xi] P.63, Interview with Alanna Heiss, founder of P.S.1
[xii] P.48, Interview with Steve Cannon, founder of A Gathering of the Tribes
[xiii] P.23, Michelle Rachleff
[xiv] P.99, Introduction to the 1960’s
[xv] P. 106, Lower East Side Printshop
[xvi] P.116, El Museo Del Barrio
[xvii] P.112, American Indian Community House
[xviii] 60 interviews were conducted in total for the original exhibition. These are being made available online: http://as-ap.org/oral-histories
[xix] P.45 Herb Tam is the Curator and Director of Exhibitions at the Museum of Chinese in America, New York. He previously served as Associate Curator at Exit Art
[xx] P.58, Interview with Carol Goodden, founder of FOOD
[xxi] P.146, Collective for Living Cinema
[xxii] p.19, Interview with Alanna Heiss
[xxiii] P.89, Interview with Martha Wilson, founder of Franklin Furnace
[xxiv] P. 14, Jeanette Ingberman
[xxv] (NEA) National Endowment for the Arts
[xxvi] P.41, Lauren Rosati
[xxvii] P. 20, Jacki Apple
[xxviii] P.69 Interview with Bob Lee, founder of Asian American Arts Centre
